Short Film Review 2 - "Vudú" (Alejandra M. Perrusquía)

Vudú is a short film created by Alejandra M. Perrusquía (Mexico) for the 2017 short filmmaking competition 'DepicT!'.

The short opens with a panning shot of a young woman entering a room with a small basket clutched in her hand, followed by a small child. The woman continues to the center of the room, placing the basket down on a coffee table, after which she proceeds to sit on a couch and hand out small dolls - perhaps made of burlap, or some other kind of fabric - to whom we can only assume are her children.
 Two things immediately stand out in this short -one of which is not quite as important, but we'll look at it anyway. The first, and least important, is the filter/colour correction used on the short; it gives the shots a warm, homely feeling, reminiscent of depictions of the 1970s (which is the decade in which this short happens to be set).
 The second, more important, and more noticeable, is the music. It is very sinister, and contrasts heavily against the warm, happy tone of the visuals. It connotes some sort of ulterior motive, telling the viewer that all is not what it seems. This immediately makes the short feel very creepy, and unnerving; you do not expect pretty, young women with a large family, living in an expensive house (as evidenced by the tall doors and rooms) to be up to anything sinister.

The next shot is a medium shot of one of the children opening the basket and pulling out a small green box (perhaps some sort of re-purposed jewelry box) and out of that taking a small bundle of sowing needles. The shot then tracks to a child behind the first one who is taking the box of needles and also pulling out a bundle of needles; the same happens for the next child, and then the mother.
 The family then proceed to stab the dolls with the sowing needles. The music then changes, becoming deeper and faster paced, indicating that the events that are currently transpiring are the focus of the short.
 There is also a faint voice talking over the music, the voice is speaking in a foreign language (Spanish - but set in Mexico).
 When the family is finished practicing their Voodoo ritual, they look up at what we assume is the television, and begin to watch a game of football (evidenced by the subtitles describing the transpiring events). One can immediately connect the dots and come to the conclusion that they practiced this ritual in order to affect the outcome of the football match.
 After a few passes one of the teams score a goal, and we can tell from the reaction of the family that it is not their team - one of the children throws their voodoo doll on the ground, another throws theirs at the mother, and all of them look disappointed.
 We then learn during the credits (through subtitles) that it was World Cup match between Italy and Mexico and Mexico happened to be hosting that year; the goal that Italy scored during this short must have been the winning goal, as we learn that Mexico have been eliminated from their own world cup.

In conclusion:
 This short is very well put together, it doesn't give too much away about the plot until the very end, and the camera and editing techniques mirror that of a professional standard.
 This short at first gives the viewer an ominous feeling, that of something evil and sinister, but then shifts gears at the end and becomes something light hearted and happy.

 Video link:
https://www.depict.org/2017/vudu/?category_request=2017

'Change of Hands' Induction Task - Evaluation

This short film was made in order for us to better understand different techniques of film production including Mise-En-Scene, continuity, camera operation and editing techniques.

The plot follows an unnamed man in a suit, exchanging a package with a notorious, rival Mob-Boss.

Mise-En-Scene

Lighting

This short relies on lighting to set the tones and mood of the film. The only motivated lighting present within the short is in the shots of one of the subjects walking through the corridors; this was merely because we could not manipulate the lighting in that situation, and we had no other suitable locations available to us at the time. This is, however, not crucial, as the shots in the corridor were used more as filler shots and establishing shots.
 The focus of this short was the exchange that occurred within the dark room. This was were the lighting became vital to the short. We wanted the lighting to be dark, and moody, but also project an air of professionalism onto the characters.
The lighting in this scene is what is known as 'low-key', featuring bright, bold highlights and dark, moody shadows; intended to connote mystery, and unpredictability in the characters. It also looks similar to lighting that one would see in professional environments, such as offices, therefore reflecting the serious, business-oriented attitude of the characters.

Costume

The costumes were also very crucial to achieving the correct tone of this film.

 The short is intended to be a scene from some sort of crime-drama, similar to shows such as 'Peaky Blinders', therefore in order to evoke the correct feel we needed to think more about aspects such as costumes.

Gangsters are often very wealthy (at least the successful ones are), they also like to portray this in their lifestyle, including aspects such as clothing, housing, and vehicles. To make our characters evoke wealth, and power, we needed them to dress as such.
 The main subject (the man we see walking down the corridor) is intended to be the protagonist - evidenced by not only his screen-time, but also his outfit; he wears a blue suit, making him appear more laid back, more chilled out, and a bit more fun (all of which are connoted by blue suits).

 The mob-boss (named 'Big Boss') is intended to be more serious, more stoic, and the main antagonist. His outfit is intended to reflect the gangsters of old, his outfit being comprised of dark colours (mainly grey). 

Camera Angles

Camera angles are used within film and television to connote power relationships between characters; the same is true for this short.

 The use of camera angles is most prevalent during the exchange scene. 'Big Boss' (the man in the woollen coat and hat) is in possession of a firearm, and thus he has the power in this scene (right up until the end), this is conveyed through the shots of him coming from a low angle, looking up.

The shots of the man in the suit, however, are a bit more complicated:
 The first shots we see in the short are of 'suit man' walking down the corridor, holding a bag. These shots were filmed at a slightly lower angle, this was done in order to make 'suit man' appear larger and more powerful. It also indicates that 'suit man' is confident, and knows that he is truly in control of the situation.
 The shots then change when the exchange occurs, as they are all filmed from a high angle, looking down in him, indicating that he does not have the power in this situation.
 But then there is one shot in which all of this changes. When 'suit man' reaches into his bag to remove the package, there is a pov shot from the bag looking up at 'suit man'; this may go over most people's heads, but it is a subtle indication of the change in power in the scene. The next shot features 'suit man' passing the package over to 'Big Boss', and while there is only about half of 'big boss' in frame, the high angle of the shot indicates that this package has tipped the scales of power against him. After a pan and an exchange of information, all subsequent shots of 'Big Boss' holding the package are shot from even lower angles than before, the viewer may just think this indicates that 'Big Boss' is powerful, but it actually suggests that this package has the power in this situation.
 Shots of 'suit man' in this scene remain at high angles looking down, until he gets up to leave at which point the shot starts looking up at him; this indicates that 'suit man' is still not in control until he leaves the room. This is because (as we find out later) the package is a bomb, and if 'suit man' does not leave the room, he will also be blown up.

Continuity

We had to keep continuity in mind when filming this piece, this meant taking various elements into consideration.

180 Degree Rule

This rule usually applies when there is two cameras, but in this instance we only had one to work with. This meant that we had to apply the rule to our lighting sources.

 We had two light-boxes to work with, we ended up putting one on each side of the subjects in order to light up both sides of their face. However, the arrangement of the set meant that we kept having the adjust the positions of the lights whenever we wanted to film the other person. In order to keep continuity in this sequence, we had to make sure that these boxes were not within the field of view of the cameras.

Establishing Shots

Our answer to establishing shots were the shots of 'suit man' walking down the corridor. These were not typical establishing shots, but we felt that showing this gangster drama being set in a sixth form college would be inappropriate for the genre, and thus ruin the continuity of the piece.

Match Cuts on Action

 There were a couple of these throughout the piece, these were: When 'suit man' enters the room at '0:32', when 'Big Boss' places his firearm on the table at '1:04', when 'suit man' pulls out the package and places it on the table at '1:18', when 'Big Boss' inspects the package at '1:33', and then places the phone on the table at '1:40' and when 'suit man' switches out the packages at '1:57'.

Eye-line Match Cuts

There is only one shot I feel like I could justify as an eye-line match cut, and that is when 'Big Boss' places his firearm on the table at '1:04' and the we cut to see 'suit man' looking at that firearm.

POV Shots

There are a couple of POV shots in this piece; when 'Big Boss' picks up the first package and then looks at 'suit man', and (this one may not technically be a POV shot but I'm counting it anyway) when 'suit man' pulls out the package at '1:18'.

Shot-Reverse Shot

This technique is featured once in this short, and that is when 'Big Boss' and 'Suit Man' exchange looks at '0:45'-'1:00'.

 Other points include camera movement - camera pans up at '1:20' and '1:28', when the camera follows the phone along the table at '1:42', and when the camera begins to follow 'suit man' down the corridor at '2:26' - and the cut to black at '2:36' when the explosion happens and the credits begin to roll.

Short Film Review 1 - "Winnow" (George Lewis)

Winnow is a short film, created by George Lewis (UK), following a man from the city venturing into the unknown.

 The first shot in this short film is a medium shot of the subject. What immediately caught my eye when the film started is the aspect ratio, and the colour correction put onto the shots.
 These effects put together give the film a feeling of age, calling back to a time when television monitors where more primitive, had smaller screens (and therefore a smaller aspect ratio) and did not have such a wide array of colours that modern televisions and digital display monitors do.
  We do not know anything about the man; his hair is wet, and roughed up, his shirt has large sweat stains and is creased, indicating that he has been through some form of ordeal to reach where he is. Perhaps he has been searching for this tree for hours, perhaps he was in some sort of danger and had to run away, or perhaps he was short on time and had to rush to get there.
  The man's attire indicated that he works in some sort of corporate job, perhaps in an office building in the city. This contrasts with his surroundings, as he is clearly in some sort of wooded area, like a forest.
  Another feature that immediately stands out in this clip is the music; it is calm and slow and, when combined with the faint howl of the wind blowing through the trees, gives the film a surreal feeling; it makes you question what is happening, and if this film is set in reality, or some kind of fantasy.

The next shot is an establishing shot/long shot of a large, old, and warped tree. The editing of the two shots together indicates that the tree is in fact what this man has been looking for. There is also a very slight, slow zoom into the tree indicating that this is indeed the main focus of this short.
 The music carries over from the last shot, giving the impression that there is more to this tree than meets the eye.

We then see a close-up of our subject, his face implies that he is frustrated, but eager to see what this tree is really hiding. He then proceeds to walk towards the camera, indicating that he is ready to find out.

The man then proceeds to climb into the tree; what follows is a 42 second "Alice in Wonderland"-like sequence in which the man falls down an absurdly deep hole in the ground.
 The music in this sequence picks up a little, implying that he is now in/now entering a world unlike our own.
 While falling the subject proceeds to remove his clothes and dumps all of his possessions. This indicates that perhaps this man is in a strange state of mind
 The lighting also changes on the way down, transitioning form bright and happy, to dark and sinister perhaps connoting some sort of evil undertones.

When the subject reaches the bottom, he is in some sort of dark space.
 The ground consists of soil present in coniferous woods (like the one in which the ancient tree resides) and debris and leaf litter that one would find in such coniferous forests. This all indicates that the subject may be in some sort of outside space, however, the information that we have previously received (that the man just climbed inside a tree) seems to contradict that conclusion; this may indicate that the subject has entered some sort of realm/world that mirrors ours in some way.
 The lighting of this scene is very interesting; as I previously described, the lighting gives a sinister feeling. There is only one source of light in this scene, emanating from one non-descript source. This light has a yellow colour, giving the feeling of warmth, and safety. Upon further analysis of this scene, you begin to question whether or not it is intended to connote the popular ideas of what happens after one dies - most obviously 'the light at the end of the tunnel'.
The subject may have died form the immense fall that he experienced: we may have seen him land, and he may be in some sort of surreal world - but perhaps the landing that we saw was him entering .Limbo'.
 This idea is further supported by the next shot after the subject crawls towards and into the light; we see a panning-transition from the last scene, to a shot of the 'over-world', where we see a small plant quickly sprouting from the ground. This plant is obviously meant to be the focus of the shot: it is central in the shot, and is the only item of interest that is in focus.
 I believe that this transition is supposed to imply that when one life ends (in this case the subject of the short), another begins (in this case the plant in the final shot).

In conclusion;
 The cinematography is excellent - the black bars and the colour correction make this short feel very professional, almost like it is part of a full length feature film.
 I love the tones that this short conveys - the combination of the music, the ambient sounds, and the cinematography make this short feel mysterious and surreal.

Film Review - How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

How to Train Your Dragon is a heart-warming tale of a misfortunate Viking youth struggling to find his place in the harsh, brazen world of his archipelago.
 The film immediately draws the viewer in with the classic tale of the underdog whom wishes to clamber their way to the top, in the form of “Hiccup” (voiced by Jay Baruchel); who’s name immediately tells you everything you need to know about the character.
 Hiccup is intended to mirror many of today’s youth in that he is not like everyone else, he is small, scared, smart, and a general outcast in his society.

 The film immediately opens with some light hearted, but self-deprecating humour: “This is Berk. It’s 12 days North of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death…”.
 Hiccup – being the narrator of this opening sequence – then goes on to describe the village, explaining that “The only problems are the pests.”, at which point we see a sheep plucked from its field mid-graze. We then learn that these pests that Hiccup is referring to are Dragons. The film then starts a sequence of action in which the village attempts to defend itself from a dragon attack, accompanied by some fast paced, but cheerful music, setting the tone of the film as a family friendly venture.
 What then ensues is a brief description of each of the Dragons featured within the film, plus some of the main characters; a sequence which is sure to excite young viewers.

 The film then follows a typical narrative of the kid whom everyone looks down upon for being different eventually proving everyone else wrong, and showing them a different way of viewing their world.

The film is filled with sentiment, and messages about love, and peace rather than violence and war, and overall sends a good message.
 It is also filled with characters than the viewers can warm to, namely the wide-eyed, sweet, but dangerous character of “Toothless”.

 The problem with this film however, is that it feels like a cliché, lending too much to the regular formula of the underdog story.
 Overall, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders done a wonderful job creating this family friendly adventure. The world they created for this Dreamworks project feels vast, and full of life.

Rating: 4/5